Photographing Gordian/Diana Lucifera (Part 2)

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Sallent, Apr 22, 2017.

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What do you think of this new photo of my coin?

  1. It is decent and passable

    9 vote(s)
    69.2%
  2. it is bad...so bad

    2 vote(s)
    15.4%
  3. I'll pay you $100 if you promise never to touch a camera

    1 vote(s)
    7.7%
  4. Angels wheep when you try to take a picture

    1 vote(s)
    7.7%
  1. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    A few weeks ago I photographed one of my coins and this was the result:

    Gordian III denarius Diana Lucifera_clipped_rev_1.jpeg

    Ouch. Needless to say, the coin isn't pink. So going back to play with the black and white settings I got this:

    Gordian III denarius Diana Lucifera Black and White.jpeg

    And @John Anthony did the same and he got this:

    Gordian III denarius Diana Lucifera JA.jpeg

    Quite an improvement, but the life-like colors are lost and they look like old photos from a catalog book from the 50's.

    So this is my newest attempt. What do you think?

    Gordian III denarius Diana Lucifera.jpeg

    It definitely has a lot more details, and while I wouldn't say it's 100% accurate as far as color, it is definitely a lot closer than anything before. I would say passable, but I want a few extra pair of eyeballs to confirm if you see what I see...a huge improvement and something quite passable.
     
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  3. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Your most recent shot is nicely focused. If you think the color is off, try adjusting it in a photo editor. Maybe simply decreasing the saturation is all it needs, or maybe the coin is pale yellowish brown in real life. Or maybe my monitor displays colors differently than yours. Or maybe something else.

    I wouldn't worry about subtly wrong colors if you're otherwise happy with exposure, lighting, focus, contrast, etc.

    Of the batch, I prefer John's images for lighting and focus although your most recent attempt is certainly very good :)
     
    Sallent likes this.
  4. John Anthony

    John Anthony Ultracrepidarian

    That last pic looks pretty damn good. I've all but given up trying to get images of silver coins that actually please me. For whatever reasons, bronze always comes out better. However, I did buy a fancy schmantzy SLR camera with various lenses and a 100-page manual, so maybe I'll get there someday.
     
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  5. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    @TIF I would say the color is about 90% or so of the way to the real thing. Some might say that's close enough, and frankly it probably is for an amateur like me with an average digital camera and basic editing software.

    @John Anthony in order to get the color contrast in my digital camera to not be wonky, I used a multi-color black and white background comprising of black stripes and white stripes. That definitely got rid of the pink hue.
     
  6. Dave M

    Dave M Francophiliac

    Given we don't have your coin in hand, I'm not sure how we would be able to guess which color is best. I will guess it doesn't look like either of the first two examples, but as far as the second two, who knows.

    I would read up on setting a custom white balance in the camera that corresponds with whatever your lighting setup is. That way once you have a consistent lighting setup (ie, your own lights on the coin, not just whatever light is in the room or coming through a window), you will have the correct color balance, no matter the coin you're shooting.
     
  7. randygeki

    randygeki Coin Collector

    What kinda of light are you using?
     
  8. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    natural. That was in my backyard in an open porch (so indirect sunlight coming from 3 sides)
     
    Alegandron likes this.
  9. gregarious

    gregarious E Pluribus Unum

    i like pink!
     
    Alegandron likes this.
  10. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    The color of your newest attempt looks good, but you've lost some of the detail on the reverse (the alien head/face).
     
  11. gregarious

    gregarious E Pluribus Unum

    ...fancy smanzancy.. i gotta git one....
     
  12. Johndakerftw

    Johndakerftw Mr. Rogers is My Hero

    All are better than any picture I'll ever take. :wacky:

    Great work, Sallent!

    Erin
     
    Kentucky likes this.
  13. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    upload_2017-4-22_15-23-38.png
    upload_2017-4-22_15-24-32.png
     
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  14. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    Another before and after:

    BEFORE

    Antoninus Pius Salvs Avg Denarii.jpg

    AFTER

    Antoninus Pius denarius Salus.jpeg

    I don't intend to rephotograph every single coin, but rather those which I have no good seller picture for or I think that I can do better. I have far too many coins to want to rephotograph them all just because. Maybe eventually over time I'll have more of my own pictures than seller pics, but it will be a gradual process
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2017
    Ancientnoob, icerain, Bing and 2 others like this.
  15. Smojo

    Smojo dreamliner

    It takes practice or patience maybe both. Some days I have atleast one of those, but mostly I have neither.
    The third photo looks pretty good to me. Who am I to judge it takes me around 50 attempts to finally get one that I'd honestly say I did it.
     
  16. Aethelred

    Aethelred The Old Dead King

    I am red-green color blind, so I can't comment in any meaningful way, but I think the latest photo looks good, better than anything I can do with these torture devices called cameras.
     
  17. icerain

    icerain Mastir spellyr

    There are many factors that may throw off your color. It could be the background, colors from the sides saturating the shot, or the color balance in your camera. The last shot looks good but may be a bit too bright. If you are using lamps, try angling them higher so the lights are not shining straight on to the coin. That should give it some contrast and bring out the details.
     
  18. Ancientnoob

    Ancientnoob Money Changer


    I would take the before and paint the background back - that would be awesome!!!
     
    stevex6 likes this.
  19. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    I love the before photo ... ummm, is that bad? (was it a test?)

    Both photos are better than I could do, but I'm a big fan of natural looking lighting and airy backgrounds
     
  20. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    Here is the thing, when I got it the coin looked more like the before picture, though the before picture is not as detailed as the after picture (Before picture done with cellphone, after picture done with $400 digital camera). The coin over time has become lighter. While it still has some light toning, it lightened considerably in an acetone bath I gave it a few months ago (sometimes that happens), especially of some of the toning was a result of handling with dirty hands and/or tobacco tars as people smoked in their houses a few decades ago.

    Also, the second picture shows way more details. Now you can see metal flow marks you couldn't see in the original image. A digital camera sensor twice the size of the best cell phone camera sensor will do that.
     
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